


Lean On Me When You're Not Strong

by Persiflage



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Beard of Sorrow, Canon Disabled Character, Daisy Mentoring New Inhumans, Emotional Hurt, F/M, First Kiss, Future Fic, Guilt, Inhumans (Marvel), Mentions of Daisy/Lincoln, New York, Older Man/Younger Woman, POV Phil Coulson, Phil Coulson's Huge Crush on Daisy, Protective Skye | Daisy Johnson, post-s3a
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 04:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5403635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Persiflage/pseuds/Persiflage
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coulson and Daisy start to work out their feelings for each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lean On Me When You're Not Strong

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where the idea for this came from - I just felt compelled to write it. It's set 3 months after 'Maveth'. Title from the Bill Withers song.

Coulson spots Daisy at much the same time she notices he's in the vicinity, judging by the way her head snaps around and her gaze immediately fixes on him. He's not forgotten that she once told him that everyone's vibrations are unique to them. Her face lights up with a smile as she catches his eye, and he swallows down the surge of emotion that lodges in his throat when he realises how happy she is to see him.

He crosses the sidewalk to join her. "What are you doing here?" he asks, then before she can answer, "Have you been tracking me?"

She doesn't physically recoil from his accusation, but she looks as if he's slapped her.

"I had no idea you were even in New York until just now," she tells him, her smile goes, and a cool, assessing expression takes its place. "I'm here because of them." She nods to a family standing a short distance away, engaging in a three-way embrace at the edge of the sidewalk, just in front of an old brownstone: he guesses they're mother, father, and a barely teenaged daughter.

"I've just brought Alesha and her mom back from the Cocoon," Daisy says, her eyes not leaving the family. "Alesha's loving and caring parents want the best for her, so they've been giving her fish oil supplements to boost her health, not knowing that both she and her mom have the Inhuman DNA in them. So their well-intentioned deed has been twisted by circumstances beyond their control, to leave them with a 14 year old who can read other people's emotions even more easily than I do, because she's become an empath."

Coulson knows that Daisy is still feeling guilty about what happened with the crystals on the Iliad, the effect her attempt to save lives has had on the lives of people like Joey Gutierrez, and now young Alesha, people who had even less say about their transformations than she did.

"How is she?" he asks.

"Doing better," Daisy says. "I had her and her mom at the Cocoon for six weeks. I helped her to transition, then Joey, Jemma, and I worked together to find a way to help her to mostly block out other people's emotions.

"How?" he asks, curious, as always, about Daisy's powers and what she can do with them.

She lifts an eyebrow and he tightens his jaw as he realises that she's not going to tell him what are effectively operational secrets when he's no longer an active SHIELD agent.

He opens his mouth to speak, although he's not sure what he's going to say, but Daisy's attention is back on Alesha and her family, and she goes over to join them, hugging Alesha, then her mom, before shaking hands with Alesha's father. They speak for a couple of minutes, then the family turns around and heads into the brownstone. Daisy watches until the door closes, then turns to look at Coulson.

"Buy you a coffee?" he asks before she can speak.

"Why?"

He gives her a confused look. "I thought it would be nice to catch up," he says, hoping she can tell how sincerely he wants to do that.

She stares at him for what seems like an uncomfortably long time, but is probably only a minute or so, then nods, her expression softening.

He gestures to an independent coffeeshop further down the block, and she nods a second time, then sets off, and Coulson walks at her side, stealing looks at her as they go; he's drinking her in: she seems older, even though it's only three months since he left. She's casually dressed in jeans and a blue denim button-down shirt, with a leather jacket over the top, and a pair of leather boots to complete the outfit. He thinks she looks as gorgeous as she always has, and she certainly draws the eye of more than one passerby. He notices the way she flicks an assessing glance at whoever looks at her a little longer, all without seeming to even register the attention she's receiving.

They reach the coffeeshop and Daisy holds the door for a young mother exiting with twin toddlers, then gestures for Coulson to enter first.

"Why don't you grab us some seats while I get the coffee?" she suggests. He nods. "Your usual?"

"Please."

She nods, then heads towards the barista while Coulson looks around for a quiet spot. He sees a booth in the corner that's just being vacated by a young couple, so he moves over to grab it, ignoring the curious looks he gets when they spot his arm in its sling.

Daisy joins him a few minutes later, placing his coffee in front of him before seating herself opposite. He gives her a few moments to settle herself, then says, "I can understand you being angry with me."

She scowls. "I'm not angry with you, Coulson. I'm upset that you left without saying goodbye, or even telling me you were leaving. And the fact that you waited until I’d gone to the Cocoon with Joey and Lincoln just made it worse. That was underhanded of you."

He swallows, then drops his eyes from her face because he can clearly see how hurt she still is by his actions. "I couldn't bear to say goodbye to you."

"Why not? Did you think I wouldn't understand that you needed some time to begin to process everything that happened? Did you think I'd begrudge you putting yourself first for once?"

He shakes his head. "I knew you'd understand," he admits. "I knew you'd encourage me to take that time for myself."

"Then why, Coulson?" she asks, and when he looks back up at her, he can see the sheen of tears in her eyes.

"Because I'm a coward."

She snorts. "Yeah, Coulson, you're a total coward, 'cos only a coward would jump out of a plane and through a portal onto an alien planet with zero prep."

He shakes his head again. "That's not the kind of coward I am," he tells her.

"Then what?"

"An emotional coward."

She frowns at him, clearly not comprehending his meaning. "I don't understand," she tells him, and he can tell she's getting a bit frustrated.

"You and Lincoln – I saw the two of you after we got out of the pod aboard Zephyr1, after we escaped from the castle."

"What does Lincoln kissing me have to do with you not saying goodbye?"

He realises he's going to have to spell it out, and it makes him squirm a bit inside, but he also feels he owes it to her. "If I hadn't realised that the two of you were an item, I'd have asked you to come with me – to take some time away together at the Retreat."

He's succeeded in shocking her, he realises when she pauses with her coffee cup halfway to her mouth and gapes at him over the top.

"Phil – " she starts, and he feels a stupid surge of happiness that she's used his first name for the first time since they met out on the street. "Are you saying you wanted us to have a romantic relationship?" She asks it carefully, obviously concerned that she might be misinterpreting what he's saying.

"I wanted us to have the time and space to explore that possibility," he says.

"And you thought that because Lincoln and I kissed, I wouldn't be interested in you?" 

He shrugs. "Lincoln's a much better prospect for you – he's young, healthy, and he's an Inhuman like you."

"Phil, you're an idiot." She says it in a calm, biting tone.

"Daisy," he protests, though rather weakly, he'll admit.

"Well you are," she says, sounding cross now. "First of all, I don't give a damn that you're older than me. Second of all, you may have lost your hand, but you could have another prosthetic. I know Fitz has been working on refining the design even though you've been gone so long. I understand why you left the other one behind, of course, but you don't have to remain one-handed. On top of which, Lincoln has his own health issues, which I don't propose to discuss with you since that's his business. Third of all, the fact that Lincoln's also an Inhuman doesn't guarantee that he's more compatible with me romantically. He doesn't know me like you do. And finally – " She pauses to swallow some coffee. "You didn't even give me a choice."

He swallows, feeling a bit unnerved by her fierce expression, and feeling more than a bit foolish. "I'm sorry, Daisy," he whispers.

"So you should be." She still sounds fierce, but her expression's softer now. "It's not too late, though."

He feels a surge of hope rise up in his throat, and his heart rate speeds up. "It's not?"

"No. Lincoln and I didn't last long – there were too many things we couldn't agree on, including whether or not I should be working for SHIELD. He's still around, but we're not dating any more – haven't been for the last two months."

She looks at her watch, then back up at him. "Why don't we go back to yours for lunch, and we can _discuss_ this in private." She lays extra emphasis on 'discuss', which makes him think that maybe there won't be much talking involved, especially since she wants privacy.

"I'd like that." He gets to his feet, then holds out his hand, and she takes it with a sparkle in her eyes, then reels him in, and he's surprised when she cups his cheek with her palm before leaning in to press a light kiss against the corner of his mouth. Then she leans back as she scrapes her fingernails through the scruff on his jaw, which makes him shiver with pleasure. She leans in a second time and whispers by his ear, "I love the Beard of Sorrow, Phil."

He's startled into quiet laughter, and she smirks at him, looking pleased. He tugs her back towards him as she starts to move away, and kisses her much more emphatically than she'd kissed him – open-mouthed and dirty. Then he breaks away as someone wolf-whistles at them, and someone else calls out, "Get a room, guys."

"I think he has the right idea," Daisy tells him, smirking all over again.

"Yeah." He tucks her arm through his, and they cross the coffeeshop and head outside. Coulson hails a cab to take them back to his apartment – he doesn't want to waste any time getting back there, not when he has three months of folly to make up for.


End file.
